The Great Ribbon Robbery of 2014

So yesterday I was making my rounds of the shops in downtown Seville, collecting last-minute essentials such as gift tags and stocking stuffers. I was buzzing along towards store number five, thinking that I was doing pretty well, when I glanced down and realized that I had the last store’s plastic shopping basket slung over my arm, filled with ribbon

for which I had neglected to pay

.

I skidded to a halt, did a u-turn, and raced the two blocks back to the store, sure that at any moment I’d feel a policeman’s beefy hand on my shoulder.

I burst through the doors, heart pounding, trying to remember the Spanish for, “It was an honest mistake!” and “Let me call my lawyer!”

Everyone proceeded to ignore me completely.  No alarms sounded, no staff members looked up, the other shoppers paid me no heed whatsoever. I could have absconded with my loot unmolested, pulling off the Great Ribbon Robbery of 2014. Instead, I went to the register and paid up. Which I’d intended to do all along – honest, officer!

It’s easy to get a bit frazzled during the holidays and

to feel there aren’t enough hours in the day. To give us all a bit of break, I’m making this post very short, and taking next week off from the blog. I will be back before you know it.

In the meantime, may you be wildly successful with any last-minute shopping you may be doing.

May all your meals be feasts in the company of people you love.

And may this season be full of warm memories that will last a lifetime.